﻿“The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives.” Lev Vygotsky, Developmental Psychologist 1930﻿

The world is changing at an unprecedented rate and the ability to learn is now the single most important capability we can gift to anyone. New research presents a model for how the brain learns based on the latest neuroscience research and this is then leveraged to create the optimal Learning Process. The recent findings of Mark Treadwell (you can download a free reading resource from hist website) suggests the brain probably has four integrated learning systems that make use of the interaction between the brains dominant cell type; astrocytes and how they work with our neurons to create the most efficient learning instrument on the planet.

Each person has the potential to change the world in ways we cannot imagine. This is the magic that is learning. There are no exceptions to that. So many of the incredibly successful people who have changed their worlds and ours found school was not for them. They struggled with remembering arcane facts and mathematics equations they could see no relevance for. Everyone can learn if they can see the magic of what they are learning about.

The job of the educator is to find that bit of magic, exploit it and leverage it to engage learners. This maybe why gaming is so popular with young learners, as the game designers cleverly build into their entertainment the key psychological elements that keeps the learning process of progressing through the game so riveting. Education as a whole needs to be that interesting. Children are naturally curious and educators with the incredible arsenal of educational tools, methods and gadgets at their fingertips have no excuse to make learning any less riveting. Mark's work has shown us that when learners are excited, the neural physiology is geared for optimal learning. We probably can recognise this ourselves, if we think back at trying to master something we were really intrigued by, compared to something that just could not rouse our attention. The small group approach to teaching lends itself well to foster curious learning.